Defining beauty or what is aesthetic may seem a challenge. However, female beauty is everywhere, from fashion magazines to advertising. It should not be seen as a diktat, as some people sometimes like to point out: because female and male beauty have a social and biological function, both for each individual, but also for the community.
What is female beauty ?
Beauty is both relative and universal. It is true that the canons of beauty have changed over the centuries, from the callipygous beauties of Renoir to the slimmer contours of today’s women.
If the beauty codes have evolved according to the time or the cultures, they keep however common bases, explaining that the female beauty is not a social or macho diktat.
In Darwinian evolution, beauty and seduction go hand to hand, with a purely functional goal: to ensure the reproduction of the species! It’s basic and biological!
If blond women are in the collective imagination considered more beautiful, it is only because they would actually emit more pheromones.
Over the centuries, the notion of feminine beauty has been forged on this Darwinian concept of reproduction, highlighting feminine characteristics, most of which are hormonal.
If a generous breast is classically part of the signs of feminine beauty, it is because in the evolution of the human species, the breasts had an essential function in reproduction, through the breastfeeding of babies.
The canons of beauty were created on a basis very close to the aesthetic codes of Ancient Greece, adapting to the times and civilizations.
For example, being tanned has long been a must in Western countries, while Asian women dreamed of a white skin.
Today, to be beautiful is first to be happy in your body, by correcting the aesthetic imperfections that bother us or that disturb the social link, because the look of the others is modified or altered.
The trend is towards naturalness, far from photoshopped models, which are more and more forbidden to be published.
Because beauty is only about expressing the truth of who you are, externally and internally.
Female beauty criteria :
Different studies have shown that there were some universal criteria, explainable, presenting a framework to the female beauty.
The youth of a woman
The youth or juvenile character comes at the first rank of these criteria, and is perfectly explained through Darwinian evolution: the young pubescent woman is reputed to be more fertile than the old woman.
This is why aesthetic defects appearing at menopause often create a rupture, both for the woman and for her entourage.
Sexual differentiation between men and women
This is another element noted by researchers, the so-called feminine characteristics must be marked for a woman to be beautiful, most of them being determined by hormonal secretions: the chest, the rare pilosity, the fineness of the features and the body, the buttocks and the wide pelvis… Most of these secondary characteristics are indirectly linked to the reproductive functions (childbirth, breastfeeding…).
The thinness of the body
This is a demand in Western countries, unlike in underdeveloped countries. It unconsciously translates the fact that a thin woman takes care of herself and she is in good health. In countries or through the ages, when eating was complicated, the round shapes were on the other hand plebiscited, because a woman with reserves seemed then more “sure” in a Darwinian approach of reproduction.
The symmetry of the face and body
Since ancient times and the Vitruvian man, symmetry and harmony express a regular, unhindered growth, a sign of promising good health. It is important to understand that these associations are unconscious and that they obviously suffer from exceptions. But these average characteristics are anchored in us. It is a notion that is found in practically all animal species: ”what is beautiful is what is regular” .
Self-assertion
Feminists will be pleased because expressions of self-confidence, strength of character, will or happiness are part of the universal criteria of beauty, perhaps because they give the image of a reassuring woman, knowing what she must do. This is achieved through natural expressions, which give an image of truth and therefore confidence.
Beauty of the female face
We find these main criteria in the beauty of the face, which must be young, harmonious, with features expressed and contours drawn. These characteristics must also be present in the neck and the low-cut.
It is important to understand that these criteria do not exclude the desire to be different, for example with a squarer jaw like Angelina Jolie or bushier eyebrows like Cara Delevingne.
Youthfulness
The beauty of the face supposes a young, firm and elastic skin, with a radiant complexion and a well shaped skin, thus well hydrated.
Expression wrinkles are obviously more and more accepted, as long as they convey positive emotions, such as the little crow’s feet wrinkles, which are often associated with a mutineer and smiling face… and therefore young at heart.
Conversely, static wrinkles that deepen the face or dynamic wrinkles that convey harsh expressions are not recommended.
A young face implies a radiant complexion, without photoaging through brown spots, nor darkened areas through the presence of a slight downy hairline.
The texture of the skin texture must be smooth, homogeneous, without dilated pores, nor oily skin, nor redness.
Femininity
A feminine face is hairless, thin, without angular contours.
It gives off a gentle expression with a luminous and open look, and well positioned eyebrows.
The smile is enveloping, with fleshy and sensual lips, well pulped.
Any fuzz, common during menopause, detracts from this femininity.
Conversely, a beautiful, smooth and luminous décolleté gives a perfect image of femininity.
A healthy face
Your complexion expresses your health, which is why beauty is often accompanied by a luminous, radiant complexion, free of redness, scars, pigment spots and acne.
Regular skin texture and fine lines, without a double chin, convey the image of a woman who takes care of herself.
An assertive expression
A beautiful oval of the face contributes to its beauty, with well-defined, assertive and harmonious features. The contours of the nose, chin and jaw must be fine. The oval should have a slightly slimmed down triangular shape, with volumes in position, well maintained, without skin sagging.
To assert oneself today also passes by the expression of one’s identity: Angelina Jolie opted for a squarer jaw and Taylor Hill for well asserted eyebrows, without it harming their natural beauty.
Beauty of the female body
The beauty of a figure will depend largely on its contours, relatively thin, harmonious and drawn.
The gynoid model accepts a slight natural distribution of fat on the pelvis and buttocks, leaving plenty of room for generous women.
Beauty is then a matter of harmony and balance, specific to each individual and to her culture, knowing that most of the time, localized fatty bulges break this balance.
On the other hand, a beautiful skin of the body must keep its texture and its firmness, to hold the tissues and prevent them from sagging: this is also true for the intimate areas.
The skin must be smooth, with a soft and homogeneous texture, unlike, for example, the orange peel of cellulite, or stretch marks.
Feminine beauty may be partly universal, but to be beautiful nowadays implies living in perfect harmony between one’s skin, body and inner self.
Because if the face is the reflection of the soul, your beauty is the reflection of who you are: the goal is not to be beautiful like in the magazines, the goal is to be beautiful for you and for those you care about.
Medical aesthetics is then there to propose simple answers, beneficial to your well-being and your physical health and promoting communication. Bringing back to the social function of beauty, facilitating communication with men but, more broadly, with your fellow man.
